“That’s a legal issue. In U.S. law, it’s a covert action when the president says it’s a covert action. I think if you’re on the receiving end of the covert action, it’s an act of war.”
-Richard Clarke on US actions against Iran.
Tag: iran
“This time, the Times has to show the readers everything. You guys not only aren’t allowed to screw it up, again, you also aren’t allowed to complain that the coverage criticism isn’t fair. You people blew through all our good will, and until you get up off your knees and stop taking dictation from the PR wonks and special interest groups, you don’t get a free ride.”
-A commenter lays it out on the NYT’s warmongering reports
Iran’s middle classes are already being deeply hurt by sanctions. The idea that they will mobilize to pressure the government to give up nuclear enrichment as a result is a non-starter.
-Juan Cole on how sanctions work. They inflict pain on the population for the perceived sins of its government.
Ahmadinejad could not even fire an intelligence minister (Haidar Moslehi) he disliked last spring. Khamenei reinstated him. Ahmadinejad sulked and wouldn’t attend cabinet meetings for a while, but eventually got over himself. Hitler indeed.
-Juan Cole notes the real power in Iran, which has always indicated its opposition to obtaining nuclear weapons
“It is interesting to see the sources on whom NBC News executives rely to develop their understanding of the world, and it’s even more interesting to learn what they’re being told about that.”
-Greenwald on the recent hawkish report that Gen Barry McCaffrey gave to NBC officials, intended to influence their war peddling by hyping the “threat” of Iran.
The neoconservative senator from Connecticut has introduced a “Sense of the Senate” resolution that would put the body on record as rejecting a situation that arguably already exists, in which Iran has the know-how to build a bomb even if it has no intention to do so.
–Sen. Lieberman is not satisfied with bombing Iran if they build a nuke. He wants us to bomb them just for knowing how it’s done.
Agitating for War
If you haven’t yet read Seymour Hersch’s new article, you need to do that now. Hersch wrote about US military incursions into Iran last year, and this is the latest update. He is a seriously connected, established journalist who consistently breaks very important stories. This is no exception: A Democratic senator told me that, late… Continue reading Agitating for War